Pcters



(No Model. I W. A SHIELDS.

Easel.

No. 241,886. Patented May 24,1881.

w l v IL mills. PbMoUlhOmWfi Wqlhingtan, D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER A. SHIELDS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

EAS EL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 241,886, dated May 24, 1881.-

' Application filedJannary 27,1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER A. SHIELDs, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements in Easels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention belongs to that class of devices used for supporting pictures, &c., for display, and is more particularly designed as an ornament for counters, desks, mantels, 850.

The object of said invention is to provide a simple andcheap device of the character indicated, made from a single piece or blank of pasteboard or other stiff sheet material suitably cut and bent to shape, the device as thus constructed being capable, in addition to its mechanical use as an ease], of serving as a cheap and effective medium for advertising by means of suitable matter printed upon its front.

Figure 1 is a face view of the blank from which the device is shaped. Fig. 2 is a front view of the device as constructed and set up for use, and Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of the same in a plane at right angles to Fig. 1.

Having reference to Fig. 1, the blank is composed of twolateral portions or wings, A, havin g any suitable circumferential configuration. At the upper part of said blankthat is to say, between the upper parts of the win gs A- are two cuts, from a to b, by which is formed an upper central portion, B, connected at its inner end, 0, with the central portion of the blank. Formed in like manner between the lower portions of the wings A are two cuts, 6 f, by which is provided a lower central portion, 0, connected at its upper end, g, with the other portions of the blank. The lower extremityof the part 0 is bent backward at right angles along the line indicated by the dotted line as, and as more fully shown at h in Fig. 3. The part 0 is bent backward at an angle to the plane of the wings A, the bent portion h forming an angular step, as represented in Fig. 3. This done, the part B is bent backward and downward until its extremity fits into the step h. As thus shaped and constructed the lower end of the part 0 rests upon the same support as the lower edges of the wings A, thereby forming a footing to sustain the wings A in their more or less vertical position, while the part B, resting upon the step h, forms a brace to hold the upper part of the wings A in place, so that by this means there is provided an easel formed of one piece of card-board orother suitable stifl' sheet material and, inasmuch as the operations required in forming and making the device are extremely simple, it follows that the device itself is proportionately cheap, and yet at the same time capable of serving all the ordinary purpose; of an easel of the class to which it belongs.

The wings A, which, as seen from the front, form a most prominent portion of the device, maybe of anydesircd configuration, and may, when preferred, be made concavo-convex, in order to add to their ornamental appearance. Thus, for example, the two wings in their shape and relation with each other may be made to represent shells placed on end, or they may be given any other form that fancy may dictate.

Printed or other advertising matter may be impressed or atfixed upon the front surfaces of the wings A, so that the device may not only be used for sustaining pictures, 850., but may also, in itself, serve the useful purpose of the advertising of various wares.

What I claim as my invention is-- The easel formed from a single blank and composed of the wings A, the part U, having a step, h, and the part B bent backward and downward to rest in the said step, all substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

WALTER A. SHIELDS.

Witnesses:

CHAS. H. DOXAT, ROBERT W. MATTHEWS. 

